Ichinomiya Tanabata Matsuri 一宮七夕祭り Photo Gallery by Matthew Haswell at pbase.com

Ichinomiya Tanabata Matsuri 一宮七夕祭り

Originating from the Chinese 'Qī Xī' - 'The Night of Sevens' - the Tanabata Matsuri, or "Star Festival", is held to celebrate the one day of the year when the Milky Way recedes, allowing the lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi (the stars Vega and Altair) to meet. Traditionally held on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month in the old Japanese calendar, it is now often held on July 7th, with the dates pushed back somewhat for some local festivals. While Sendai's Tanabata is the largest and most famous of the festivals, the matsuri held in Aichi's Ichinomiya city is ranked within the top three along with that of Hiratsuka in Kanagawa. The most recognizable feature of each is the abundance of decorative 'fukinagashi' - colorful streamers hung along streets in arcade, representing the strings that Orihime uses in her weaving.

Streamers outside	Windblown fukinagashi	Streamers along the approach to the arcade	Festival-goers in traditional summer dress
Cartoonish streamers in the Hon-machi arcade	Below the colorful streamers	Rows of streamers in the arcade	Pink panther balloons at a yatai
Set of fukinagashi in the Hon-machi arcade	Little girls in yukata	Checking out a colorful gate	Streamers out the south end of the arcade
Sidestreet off the Hon-machi arcade	Ocean-themed fukinagashi display	Hexagram and pink streamers	Fukinagashi detail
Chunichi Dragons mascot and pal	Gate depicting the Tanabata tale	Streamers blowing within the arcade	Paper lanterns and fukinagashi
Detail of the Tanabata gate	Group of bright Tanabata streamers	Children-donated streamers with tanzaku	Approach to Masumida-jinja
Yatai outside the shrine entrance	Fukinagashi display outside Masumida-jinja	Local older women at the start of the parade	Arrival of the bon dancers
Bon dancing women	Dancer in the parade	Group of bon dancers	Dancing beneath the streamers
Fukinagashi out front Masumida-jinja's main gate	Main hall of Masumida-jinja and	Flame-ringed arch in front of a smaller shrine	Sake barrels in front of Masumida-jinja's main hall
Shrine attendant offering a blessing	Hula dancers on the shrine grounds	Groups of streamers hanging near the shrine	Yukata-clad girls and yakitori stall
Main gate and sake barrels	Pensive boy and rows of yatai	Crowd watching the hula show	Stall selling grilled corn
Yukata girls walking past a charm stall	Young girls in jinbei	Girls in front of a haunted house	Young boy eating a "tornado potato"
Even the dogs dress festively!	Hiroshima-yaki stand and passing local	Albution font at the shrine	Old stone bridge outside Masumida-jinja
View down the Hon-machi arcade	Miss Tanabata arrives at the scene	Ichinomiya Miss Orimono girl	Second Miss Orimono girl

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